Great expectations lead to great disappointments. Alexander Pope once said, “Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed.” Summertime is supposed to be a time free of expectations and responsibilities, so that it can be full of possibility, spontaneity, and adventure. Sometimes, however, the expectation of having no expectations can come at a price. More and more people are experiencing depression and anxiety during the summertime due to feeling as though the summer they are having is a disappointment because it doesn’t live up to the expectations of the best summer ever. Particularly toward the end of summer, the pressure to “live it up” feels especially high, like a timer is running out to have some kind of experience other than the one being had.
You don’t have to try and jam in a bunch of “epic” summer moments to qualify your summer as memorable. You don’t have to make your life seem or be anything other than what you want it to be or how it is. If you are living with symptoms of anxiety or depression due to the expectations of summer, there is something much deeper going on beneath the non-sun kissed surface of your seemingly summer deprived life. FOMO, the fear of missing out, comes from living in comparison. Comparison comes from thinking you are not good enough, that someone or something else is better than you; moreover, that you are missing something. Believing that there is something deficient in you is not something that you are born with- it is something that you are given over the course of your lifetime.
The best way to kick the fear of missing out to the curb is to stop thinking you are missing anything at all. Living in trauma recovery as a trauma survivor, just “stopping thinking” can be incredibly hard to do. Trauma takes away pieces of your life and can make you feel as if you will never be whole again. For years you might live under the belief that you can never be “fixed” or “completed” because you will always be “broken” by trauma. However, the longer you work toward your recovery, the more you will grow to understand you have nothing to fear about missing. Everything you have felt you are missing you are creating for yourself because you are a strong, courageous, empowered human being. Summer is just one of many seasons of life. You’re in recovery for a lifetime. All of life has the adventure of summer.
Trauma is most often the root cause of many emotional, behavioral, and mood disorders. Until you can heal your trauma, you will find great difficulty finding the healing you need to live a life of recovery, health, and wellness. At Khiron House, we provide effective residential treatment and cutting edge therapies which seek to transform mind, body, and spirit from the effects of trauma. Call us today for information. UK: 020 3811 2575 (24 hours) USA: (866) 801 6184 (24 hours).